They say to stay away from Wiji's house because when nobody is watching she flies on a broom but what the heck, I think that’s pretty cool, to sit on a sweeper and buzz into the moonlit sky. In fact, I’ll take a walk over there right now and maybe I’ll capture her attention.

I’ll go there and peek into that window, the one with no curtains and gaze at the dark wood and that shining black Singer sewing machine and just maybe she’ll notice me and I’ll tell her how good her Jello is and…

He's been around so he knows how to live… prime rib, seafood, fruits and vegetables left aside dumpsters by supermarkets that cater to the rich and he sleeps in hotel lobbies and in rooms with no-show reservations. He has no family that lives nearby, nor job, or money.

His wife passed and as a result, his warm life has vanished, so when the blues casts its mighty hue the old man visits that little spot off Governors Island in the Bay, a place insignificant to most, surrounded by the…

Wiji’s house caught on fire or so we thought. She had one window without curtains that was ice water clear and you could see into the frosty dark room that had a shining black Singer sewing machine atop a wooden table, wooden cabinets with sparkling brass knobs, gleaning hardwood floors and darkened wooden walls, but only that one window was unclouded, like she wanted you to see everything.

Anyway, Billy Shepherd and me passed by one night after smoking cigarettes at the corner store…

My friends broke windows today and I was with them and when we were rounded up they said they didn’t do it and I said we did. But we were spoken to individually and the owner wants me to tell the cops, so just for that, I'm gonna say nobody did it.

And now, my whole family is involved and mom and dad want the facts, but I think I'll see Grandma before I do anything else. She listens and won't tell on the others, yet the man who owns the property is good friends with her, but I'll tell…

She's a peculiar lady, my friend's mom, and she always dresses in bright colors… hats, scarves, tight tops, short skirts, and imported shoes… mostly high heels. In fact, her pretty face is also painted in bright hues, sea-green atop her green eyes, rouged red cheeks, dark red pouting lips, sparkling silver fingernails and almost orange hair. And I always wanted to kiss her but I never told her or anyone else.

Well, last Halloween and probably the last time I will ever trick or treat,…

We call her Wiji but unsure if that’s her real name and Grandpa says she was about thirty when her mom died back in 1916 and ever since, she lives by herself. She never seems to do much or so we think except sweep the sidewalk with her old broom and only says hello to me out of the dozens of kids in the nabe. She just stares at most but the most make fun so I think that she speaks to me cause of the respect I give.

Well, Wiji seems to never celebrate any holiday since she lives alone,…

They don veils and listen, quiet introspective kids from the Middle East. Two freshmen girls volunteer for the Columbus Day parade to carry the high school banner, “Yes, you can participate,” says their Moms, “but after the parade, come home; don’t go to the boys and girls club; you don’t want dad to find out.” They go anyway and after pizza they huddle in the back alley of the building to smoke their first cigarette and swear their first swear words like a New York City kid.

Student…

"I'm tellin ya Charlie there ain't no mo telvision shows to be watched."

"I watches them every night, so what you talkin bout?"

"But Charlie they has jus run out of stories to be told; you know dis worl has been round tousands of years and theys jus plum runned out."

"Yea I see what you mean with deez realty shows."

"See what I mean, Charlie, theys run out of stories and has to use realty cause they jus runned out."

"Now you talkin!"…

The suburbs become our most exciting place to live.

The sign, "English Spoken Here" displayed in many city shop windows disappears  across America.

Billiards becomes our favorite past time.

Educators realize the lack of properly instilled discipline, a regimen that our youth crave is the reason for low performing schools, not teachers deemed as substandard because scores are low.

Americans stop using drugs because life is hard. 

Fast food joints disappear…

The senior leaders plan to revolt because they were not paid, yet they decide to allow their commanding officer to say a few words prior to carrying out their plan.The leaders assemble in an upstate New York village and while the commander looks into their angry eyes he unveils his spectacles and places them upon his aging face. He tells his subordinate leaders that age is catching up with him and to please excuse the infirmity.

And though he tells his chiefs to keep the faith in…

The gang rollicks on Broadway, but the clouded sun sets and the boys want to go home, so instead of walking up Washington to Renwick they shortcut through Saint George's Cemetery to return to the safety of their nabe, Washington Heights.  

"Hey Stefano, look over there, new dirt." The boys stare into the freshly dug grave and spot a gleaming coffin with edges adorned with sparkling brass.

"Let's pry that box open and take a look," says Tony.

Tony and Giulio jump into the…

Tony relaxes on the sixteenth floor balcony savoring his coffee observing yellow cabs mixed with ordinary traffic. A hawk flies by as if to say hello and soars toward Central Park, maybe for breakfast. The young man accepts a refill in his newfangled cup and sits and stares and suddenly the tawny haired neighbor from the twenty-third floor passes by who just moved in and seemed quite sad yet never introduced himself.

Tony would have said “hello,” but the neighbor passed so quickly…

He sits in the chair and Giuseppe asks, “What’ll it be young man?”

Stefano looks into the mirror and says, “A regular, you know… taper the sides and back and a little off on top.”

“Yes,” says Giuseppe, “winter’s coming and it’s chilly today, so how about an eye opener?” Stefano looks toward the mahogany table below the mounted television and sees a bottle of cognac and gleaming shot glasses lined in front.

“Sure,” says the young customer, “I’ll have a shot.” The barber…

The young woman boards the vessel and doesn’t look back, not even a farewell and with one bag she makes a beeline to the crowded berths to plan a new life. All she has is a change of clothes, spare change, and travel documents.

When the vessel docks no one is there to greet her, yet she manages to find a room and eventually, employment in a New York factory. One Sunday on her day off she observes her rugged hands, strong arms, and purple scar lingering atop her sturdy wrist and…

He always wanted to be the horn player and he became one too. The guy playing the flared bell in the background, a bright penetrating tone while the crooner sang. He could have sung yet he chose the horn, that brass musical instrument with three valves. Well, one day the crooner didn’t show, so he sang and it was one hell of a show, that damned trumpet player who could cry like an elephant and weep like one too. We don’t see that type anymore. Where did they all go?

Strapping men and sturdy women… young, old and in-between amble down the cobblestone walkway, some alone and others side by side. Candy store is open and Mister Argenio is ready to sell hot, oven-baked bread. The aroma of tomato sauce dances in the air as neighbors chatter on their back porches. Then the neighborhood fire whistles blow, noting noon as the town’s Grandmas serve delicious pastas while the Grandpas dispense luscious wines from their barrels stashed in their cellars. The Dads…

"There’s a new job in town and all you gotta have is a good eye… and of course, a pencil, pad and cell phone."

"A good eye… I got that, but a pad and pencil… you mean you gotta write?"

"A pad and pencil for further instruction and all you do is hang out at the corner store or fast food joint and watch the shopkeeper, and if he does wrong just call this number and you tell the mayor you just joined the force and observed the vendor dispensing a soda in a container larger than…

We met at the playground playing in the sand. I wanted to make sand cakes like they do in a bakery, yet she wanted to fight, so we fought and when she clobbered me I looked up and noticed something strange. It seemed her eyes were on fire like an emerald forest with glints of red flaming through, but everyone said they were always that way.

Forty years later she kissed her husband and son goodbye before they parted for work only to perish in a fiery blast. Last night I noticed a…

He didn’t say a word when fourteen-year old Tommy got shot. While everyone ducked for cover, smoky voiced Homer, a six-foot middle-aged Black man in his charcoal trousers and slate gray jacket hovered over the waxen body. 

Under a gunmetal sky he glinted, knelt and breathed life into the ashen boy. And when the ambulance disappeared on that wintery overcast day the silver-haired man walked to the tracks and hopped the iron horse. Of course we saw him again and so did Tommy. It was a…

They went off to war and we worked the factories. In the beginning it was ten-hour days, six days a week, low wages and mostly women, then we got smart. We organized and after a good fight or many of them we got our way, unionized you know! Weekends off, better wages, overtime pay, medical insurance and finally, supervisory positions.

When the men returned we ran the fuckin factories… oh excuse me, did I say… oh never mind… we ran the place! Women did it Stefano… now write about…